Experimental Studies on Parasitization by Apanteles glomeratus L. : Hymenoptera : Braconidae : II. Parasitization by Apanteles glomeratus L.Reared in Pieris melete MENETRIES

Abstract

A. glomeratus obtained from P. rapae crucivora collected in Kyoto cannot develop in P.melete because of the hemocytic defense reaction of this host. Experiments were conducted to find out whether mass oviposition can weaken this defense reaction. In the experiments, larvae of P. melete were attacked by several parasitoid females at a time. It was found that mass oviposition did not always weaken the reaction, but parasitoids egressed from a few host larvae. These parasitoids were used in a second experiment to determine if they could successfully parasitize P. melete larvae.Parasitoids obtained from A. crataegi adherbal collected in Sapporo can develop in P.melete. One generation of these parasitoids were raised in P. melete and the same experiment was carried out to test how successfully they could parasitize P. melete larvae.The results fail to support the assumption that rearing the parasitoids in P. melete larvae has the effect of selecting a strain which can develop in P. melete.